Skidding to Safety

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23009, 9 April 1938, Page 13 (Supplement)

Skidding to Safety

BUS DRIVERS PRACTISE A large gathering of the chairmen of the highways committees and the engineers from 115 local councils was present at the London Transport training ground at Chiswick in order to witness a driving demonstration on the new skid-control ground. This ground, which replaces the well-known grease patch, is laid out in the form of a crossroads. The roads are 30 feet wide with a normal camber of 4| inches and have three types; of surface, special nonskid, unsanded and sanded asphalt. The cross-roads are equipped with traffic lights, islands and bus-stop posts, all movable and all controlled from a special remote-control box. The busstop posts are fitted with automatic arms, not unlike direction indicators, and these various signals, when worked unexpectedly, are liable to give the unwary novice in control s"ome very unpleasant' moments. For the purpose of the demonstration, the unsanded asphalt was sprayed with water continuously, producing the treacherous surface so well known to the ordinary motorist, and a "novice" was sent out with a perfectly normal bus. The antics ol : the bus when driven round the corner fast needed to be seen to be believed, says The Motor, and one cannot help wondering why there are not many more accidents on road surfaces of this kind. It says a great deal for both the capabilities of London's bus drivers and the stability of the modern passenger vehicle that the bus remained upright throughout the demonstration.

It is interesting to note that no fewer than 7000 bus drivers graduated on the perilous surface of the old grease skid patch during the twelve years of its existence.